Move to Halt Neo-nazi Group from Sponsoring Hate Messages

August 27, 1979

TORONTO (Aug. 26)

A tribunal of the Canadian Human Rights Commission has issued an order to a neo-Nazi group to stop sponsoring telephone hate messages aimed at Jews and other minorities. The group, the Western Guard, had arranged for recorded messages callers could hear by dialing a Toronto number of the group. The messages called for an all-white Canada, denounced leading local Jews and espoused white power. The tribunal’s ban has the force of a court decision.

The tribunal said that while the messages did not mention Nazi Germany or the Nazi Party of the Third Reich by name, there were “references” indicating that the Western Guard found the Nazi principles and policies “praiseworthy.”

The tribunal also said that the messages were designed to incite hatred and contempt for Jews and contravened the Canadian Human Rights Act. The messages have been on the telephone system since 1973. John Taylor, 68, leader of the Nazi group, said he would comply with the tribunal’s order but added that “the fight is only beginning and we will fight the decision to the highest court in the land,” The tribunal heard evidence in the case for four days in June.